Know how COVID-19 impacted women differently compared to men. Understand how to create social enterprise to sustainably address the issues you care about. Learn how we are tackling period poverty and toxic masculinity. Educate yourself on health issues for gender diverse people. And please, please, please – stop baking just to make people like you!

In 2021, the AMSA Global Health Intensive examined Gender Equity as a contemporary global health issue. Over 50 medical students from around the country attended and upskilled through our speaker sessions, workshops, and presentations.

Day 1 opened with a talk by Dr Sonia Henry, doctor and author of ‘Going Under’. The session was an eye-opening introduction to gender equity in the clinical workspace, and we all left with a sense of fiery determination to fix the system. Learning from fellow medical student Isobel Marshall, co-founder of TABOO, gave us another tool to enact change – social enterprise. We were also lucky enough to collaborate with AMSA Global Health’s own Sexual and Reproductive Health team to discuss solutions to modern issues in small breakout groups.

On Day 2, we heard from Dr Demelza Ireland who presented a topic not often seen elsewhere – the impact of COVID-19 on women in biological, psychological, and social terms. We then attended a personal, heartwarming workshop on toxic masculinity held by WA organisation, ManUp.

A main highlight of the weekend (as described by attendees) were the workshops held each afternoon, providing a deep dive on gender equity issues both inside and outside the medical workplace. It was a useful reminder that there’s never just one thing to consider when examining gender equity – intersectionality of gender identity, race, age, ability, and socioeconomic differences all play a part in this issue.

Of course, credit must be given to the incredible AGHI team, without whom the event would not have been possible:
Academic Officers: Tammy Keerthipala and Mihan De Silva
Social Officers: Nanditha Hareesh and Prabasha Thilakaratne
Promotions Officers: Jourdan Wei and Sharon Tu
Logistics Officer: Brooke Hatton
Sponsorship Officer: Kevin Mao

Thank you to everyone who attended, and we look forward to seeing the event thrive once more next year! We hope you all are able to walk away with the passion and tools to create real, lasting change for people of all genders.

Kate Murray
2021 AGHI Coordinator